Acrobatic toy.



C. A. IVIEURER.

ACHOBATIC TOY.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4. 1911.

Patented May 14,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 4 zzgbyw C. A. MEURER.

ACROBATIC TOY,

APRLJCATION FILED JUNE 4. I911. 1,265,803. Patented-May 14, 1918.

2 SHE ETSSHEET 2.

I 3 ZZVG/lfdr CHARLES A. MEURER, OF TERRACE PARK, OHIO.

ACROBATIC TOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1918.

Application filed June 4, 1917. Serial No. 172,573.

To all whom it may concern Be it knownthat I, CHARLES A. MEURER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident 'of Terrace Park, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Acrobatic Toys, of which the following is a full, clear and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification.

The objectof my invention is to provide an amusing toy in which figures or manikins mounted ona minature trapeze or hori- Zontal bar may be caused to perform an almost endless variety of acrobatic feats by i'nerely shifting or sliding a portion of the framework; upon which the bar carrying the figures is rotatably mounted.

The invention consists of that certain novel construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter particularly pointed out and claimed, whereby the following results are attained.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of the simplest form of my device.

Fig. 2 is a side perspective view of the construction with two figures mounted on the rotatable bar.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the frame members.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective showing one method of connecting to the rotatable bar the figures loosely mounted thereon.

Fig. 5 is a front perspective of the construction, the detail of which is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is aperspect-ive view showing a modified and more elaborate construction.

Fig. 7 is a detail of the construction shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the method of joining together the parts of the figure or manikin.

The framework upon which the rotatable bar carrying the figures is mounted and caused to rotate comprises two similar frames 1, 2, of wire or other suitable material, formed with parallel side members 3. 3, and 4, 4, and with the outer ends of the side members looped around each other at 5, 6, so that the two frames may be pushed toward. or away from each other, the loops 5, sliding on the side members 4, 4, and

the loops 6, 6, sliding on the side members 3, 3. Mounted between the outer ends of the loops 5 and 6 and held between the sliding sides of the frame 3, 3, and 4, 4, is a bar 7. The bar is provided at its ends with disks or knobs 8, 8, which may be located either outside or inside the main frame. or the bar may be provided at its ends with pulley wheels to ride on the frame members 3, 4. Secured to the bar 7 in the simplest form of the' construction as shown in Fig. 1, is a manikin 9. The general construction of these figures or manikins is shown in Fig. 8, in which a hollow body portion 10 is formed with a head 11, legs 12 and arms 13. A wire 14 is run through the arms and through the upper portion of the body. The head is held loosely on the body by the wire 15, which isgpassed down through a, hole in the neck portion into the hollow of the body portion and is held by a band 16 a of rubber or other suitable material, which also loops the wire 1'7 upon which the legs 12, 12, are secured. \Vith this construction it is evident that the arms, the body and the legs of the manikin will be jointed together so as to permit bending and various movements of the manikin.

To cause the figure to rotate and turn somersault-s and the like, all that is necessary to do is to push or pull the frame members toward or away from each other, which movement it is evident will cause the bar to rotate, as the ends of the bar are engaged frictionally by the parallel side members 3 and 4.

In Fig. 2 the bar is shown with a pair of manikins 18, 18, mounted alongside of each other.

In the construction shown in Fig. 5, the arms of these manikins 18, 18, are not secured to the bar, so that they will rotate with the bar, but the arms 13. 13, are mounted on the bar 7 by loops of wire 19, having free outer ends 20. The ends of these loops are arranged to engage in the opening 21 in their respective disks 8. When the figures are thus engaged, they will then rotate with the bar; butif the framework is turned sidewise so as to slide the loops 19 away from their respective disks, then the figure will be free and the bar will rotate without the figure turning. By placing two figures alongside of each other mounted in this way and turning the frame sidewise, one figure will become loosely mounted on the bar, while the other will be locked thereto by reason of the end of the loop 20 engaging in the hole 21.

A somewhat elaborate construction is provided as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, by mount ing one figure 2:2 by its arms to the bar, and mounting the other figure 23 on a trapeze bar 24: and looping the wire .25 loosely around the bar.

With this construction, the figure 22 will rotate, allowing the trapeze framework carrying the other figure to hang downwardly until the arm connection 26 with the rotation of the bar picks up the trapeze frame 25 as shown in detail in Fig. 7.

In the foregoing we have described and illustrated a number of methods of mounting the figures, but of course it will be evident that variousother ways may be readily devised, and it is not desired in the foregoing specification to limit the invention to the particular construction of the manihins and methods of mounting th same; and it will be understood that the essential feature of the invention consists of the two frame members shiftable toward and away from each other and arranged to carry the rota-,

table bar between the frame members and raeaeos members and caused to rotate by the shift- 1 ing of the same.

An acrobatic toy comprising a pair of wire frames with parallel side arms looped around. each other and adapted to be shifted toward and away from each other, with a bar mounted between the side members of the frame and rotatable with the shifting of the frame members.

3. An acrobatic toy comprising frame members shift-able toward and away from each other, and a rotatable member carried between the frame members and caused to rotate by the shifting of the same, the rotatable member having stops or pins fixed thereto, with manikins loosely mounted on said rotatable member and adapted to be picked up and caused to rotate by the en gagement with the stops on the bar.

CHARLES A. li IEURERv Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cent-s each by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 3). 43, 

